The Incident is based on a true story that happened in Regensburg (Rattisbone in French) which stood in Napoleon's way of conquering Bavaria after he had beaten back the Austrians in Germany in 1809. This is the scene of Browning's Incident of the French Camp (from Dramatic Lyrics, 1843) . Napoleon had assumed the throne in France in 1804 stabilized the State finances, and restored religion, but it was his military adventures that resulted in his and France's ruin by 1814 that is written most about by historians. Even so, it was his victories that made his men love him and fiercely loyal.

Sources:

Blair, Bob:http://www.geocities.com/~bblair/990519.htm

Public domain text taken from The Poets’ Corner:
http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/brown02.html#14